Going Knowhere
by Space Lord
Summary: Jack Flag was just some guy from Arizona. He didn't do cosmic stuff. Of course, the universe didn't seem to care what he thought. One-shot, DnA comicverse.


A/N: This is a one-shot, simply filling in the blanks of Jack's arrival to Knowhere, and what he was up to while the others went to talk to the Fantastic Four. Heavy with references to events and characters from the comics.

Rated T for some language and mentions of alcohol.

* * *

A bright light filled Jack's vision, causing him to squint his eyes. There was a strange sensation all throughout his body. It felt as if he were being stretched out far more than was possible for a normal human, but it also seemed like he was disintegrating into billions of pieces of dust. He was glad it only lasted for a fraction of a second.

When the light faded, Jack blinked a few times. They were in some strange, blue room, standing (sitting in his case) on what appeared to be on a circular platform in the center of it. And around the perimeter of the room were floating... well, they weren't _human_, but Jack didn't know what they were. There was definitely some cosmic stuff going on here.

As everyone began to step off the platform, Jack wheeled himself alongside Peter. Thankfully, someone had been smart enough to put in a ramp leading up to the platform. "What is this place?"

"Knowhere."

Jack gave him an incredulous look, "What, is it _top secret_ or something?"

"Oh, no, it's _Know_here; K-N-O-W. It's a severed celestial's head floating at the edge of space and time that serves as a research facility and acts as a… how'd they put it, 'interdimensional crossroads', that sort of thing. And it's also our headquarters."

"You lost me at 'severed celestial's head'."

Not quite sure what else to do, Jack simply followed Peter to the rest of the team, who were crowded around one of the control panels with a dog sitting at their feet. They were an interesting bunch to say the least. He couldn't help but notice that the man in blue had Captain America's shield. Or at least, he had one modeled after it.

The green woman noticed their approach and broke off from the group to meet them. Apart from the green skin and antennae, she looked pretty human. "I haven't introduced myself yet," she said, looking at Jack. "I'm Mantis."

Okay, so she was part bug, or something? He wasn't familiar with most alien species. "Jack."

She nodded her head, "Would you mind recording a debrief log about the events in the Negative Zone?"

Of all the things that Jack had thought she was going to ask, _that_ had not been near the top. But he didn't have any real reason to not agree. He didn't think they would try to use it against him if they'd already brought him all the way to their headquarters. If they wanted to turn him in, they could've just left him back at the prison.

Mantis briefly met Peter's gaze. He looked down at Jack for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, good thinking Mantis. I, uh, better go join the others, so I'll leave you to it."

Jack watched him fill the space that Mantis had left, greeting the dog. It almost looked as if the dog understood what Peter had said. In fact, it _almost_ looked like-

"If you'll please follow me." Snapping out of his thoughts, Jack saw Mantis waiting for him near the entrance of the room. He wheeled himself over to her and kept to her side as she began to walk. "Our control center isn't too far away, but the way there is a bit crowded."

Jack thought 'a bit' was an understatement. People (or whatever they were) seemed to be taking up every inch of floor space, walking in every which direction. Of course, it was entirely possible that it wasn't _that _crowded, but just Jack being used to the small numbers Prison 42 had.

Nonetheless, he kept close to Mantis. "Were they, uh, _talking _to that dog back there?" he asked.

Mantis smiled. "Yes. His name is Cosmo. He's Knowhere's head of security."

"A _dog _is the head of security?"

"He does his job well." She gestured to a door that they were approaching. "And here we are."

Jack watched as she opened the door. "Seriously, a dog?" But Mantis just smiled at him as she held the door open. He shook his head, deciding to drop the subject for now (But _really_, a _**dog**_? What did he do, bark at intruders?) and wheeled himself through the doorway.

The room was lined with some consoles and screens and, in one area, a couple of couches and chairs. In the center of the room was a large hologram that looked to be a map of some part of the galaxy. Jack wasn't exactly familiar enough with anything beyond Earth to be sure where the map was showing.

Mantis led him to the opposite side of the room to one of the consoles. A camera was set up, and a chair sat on the ground between it and the wall.

Before Mantis could move the chair, Jack had already begun to lift himself out of his wheelchair. 42 wasn't known for it's hospitality, especially not towards those that were disabled. It hadn't even crossed his mind that the chair could be moved so that he could use his own. After a few moments, Jack had transferred himself out of his wheelchair, and into the chair provided.

Satisfied that he did not require her help, Mantis turned to the console that the camera was hooked up to. She began the process of creating a file for Jack, and the incident at Initiative Prison 42.

A bit uncomfortable with the sudden silence, Jack voiced a question, "So, what exactly do you want me to talk about? The stuff with Star-Lord, or… ?"

"Start with yourself. Name, powers, how you ended up in 42," Mantis finished her typing before looking over to Jack. "_Then_ everything you know about the attack."

"And this is being used for _what_ exactly? Just for your team?"

Mantis smiled again. "Don't worry, it's strictly to keep track of past missions and to monitor the psychological health of team members."

Jack gave a sigh of defeat, leaning forward a bit. He placed his elbows on his knees, clasped his hands together, and rested his chin on top. "I usually go by Jack Flag, but my real name is Jack Harrison…"

About fifteen minutes later, Jack had recounted all he could about the past week. He'd skimmed over some stuff, but Mantis seemed satisfied.

Then came the sound of someone entering the room.

Jack expected Peter. Instead, a dog wearing a spacesuit -that _same dog_ from earlier- trotted in, tongue hanging out as it approached the only people in the room. It wasn't seriously the head of security, right? That was just some sort of inside joke, _right_?

"Hello Cosmo," Mantis greeted.

The dog turned his gaze to Mantis. "(Hello! You two are beink done here, da?)"

Jack started at the voice in his head that most certainly was _not _his own. Last time he checked, his inner dialogue didn't have a Russian accent. "What the fuck?!"

"Do not be alarmed, Jack. It's only Cosmo," Mantis assured him, gesturing to the dog.

"Cosmo..." Jack looked between the pair, "It can talk?" He fixed his gaze on Cosmo, "You can _talk_?"

The dog wagged his tail, "(Yes! Cosmo can do all sorts of thinks!)"

Staring dumbly at the dog, Jack wondered why he was still surprised by all this shit. Cosmic stuff _never_ made any sense. _Of course_ a telepathic dog would be head of security at… the severed head of a celestial? God, he needed a drink.

Luckily, Cosmo had more pressing matters to get to, and went back to talking to Mantis, "(The others are goink off to see a group of Earth heroes. The fantastic ones! They are waitink for you to join them!)"

Jack's head snapped back up. 'The fantastic ones'? Was he talking about- "You're going to the Fantastic Four?" he asked.

"Dr. Richards and his team look after the Earth-side of the portal that connects it to the Negative Zone," Mantis explained.

Oh. Right. That was still a thing they had to worry about.

"And you're just going there to warn them not to open it?"

"Almost every member of the Guardians has been incarcerated at some time. We aren't going to report your escape from 42."

Jack was caught off guard by Mantis's reply. He wasn't sure what was worse, that she'd known what he'd really been asking, or that he'd gotten himself involved with more criminals. _Cosmic_ criminals. He nodded slowly, "Right, well, good luck."

With Mantis off to do _whatever_ with Peter and the others, that left Jack with Cosmo. The dog. The telepathic dog. The telepathic dog with a Russian accent.

Was he positive that he hadn't gotten knocked out during the fight at 42, and this was really all a dream?

Or maybe he died, and this was **hell**. His own personal hell, filled with nothing but cosmic stuff he wasn't used to.

Aaaaand now the dog was staring at him. Telepath, _right_.

Jack cleared his throat, "So, uh-"

"(Cosmo will now be takink you to the medical bay!)" the dog finished for him.

He didn't try to mask his confusion. "Medical bay? What for? I didn't get that hurt from the ordeal at 42." Well, not _today_, at least.

"(Injure head as well, or always this slow?)" Great, now he was being _sassed_ by the mutt. "(You in wheelchair, da? You are injured! Doctors will help you!)"

"Whoa, whoa, ok, yes I'm in a wheelchair. But I don't have a broken leg or something, I'm **paralyzed**."

Cosmo canted his head, "(Yes, and as Cosmo say, doctors will help you!)"

Ok, this conversation was headed nowhere fast. It would probably just be best to go along with it.

With a shake of his head, Jack gestured towards Cosmo, "Alright, lead the way then."

What Jack was expecting the doctors to do was send him on his way when they saw the extent of his injuries were some bruises and scrapes. Instead, he suddenly found himself being ushered onto a table, where someone proceeded to get... well, he didn't know what it was, a wand-type thing. Jack would've thought them to be crazy if hadn't been for the fact that he could _feel_ it doing something. Specifically, he could feel it doing something to his back and legs. And five minutes later, he was being handed new clothes (when was the last time he'd worn regular clothes and not a prison jumpsuit?) and he _walked_ on his own two legs out of the medical bay.

After the initial shock and wonderment of what had just occurred, Jack had to actually think about what had happened that day. He'd started the day hoping to just survive another attack, and instead he got sprung from prison by a bunch of aliens and cosmic-based heroes.

... what exactly was he supposed to do now? Going back to Earth was out of the question. He was wanted, and he'd probably just get thrown right back into 42, even with it being taken over by Blastaar and those other Negative Zone freaks.

Jack walked -_walked_!- back to the first room he'd arrived in. That's where Peter and the others would be when they came back from Earth. Maybe... maybe he'd ask about staying here, in Knowhere, for a while.

You know. Just until he figured things out.

He wasn't going to _join_ these guys or anything.


End file.
